January 29, 1986

Two leading tire companies are hoping that there is strength in unity. In the face of fundamental changes that have been shrinking the nation's tire industry over the last decade, the B.F. Goodrich Company and Uniroyal Inc., longtime rivals, said yesterday that they would join forces. The two companies, as expected, announced in New York that they would combine their tire businesses in a deal that would create the nation's second-largest tire operation, generating annual sales of $2 billion. The new Uniroyal-Goodrich Tire Company, as it will be called, would be second only to the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. Currently, Goodrich's tire operations are No. 3 and Uniroyal's No. 5.

Employment costs, which account for a third to a half of the price of most products, rose in 1985 more slowly than at any time this decade, suggesting that inflation will continue to moderate, the Labor Department reported today. The department's Employment Cost Index, which measures wages and benefits for all private industry employees and state and local workers, but excludes Federal workers, rose by 4.3 percent last year, down from 5.2 percent in 1984. The increase was two-thirds the 6.6 percent in 1982, the first full year this series was compiled.

IT is five minutes before noon. As is his custom, Andre Soltner has just started his lunch, served on a tray wedged between the counter top and the base of the kitchen cabinets at his restaurant, Lutece. He must be finished by noon. As is her custom, Simone Soltner is admonishing her husband for eating too quickly. He smiles, stands and takes a last sip of iced coffee. Patrons are already at the door. As it has for 25 years, the curtain is about to go up on Mr. Soltner's twice-daily performances. In the next two and a half hours he will cook for 70 or 80 customers and, perhaps more important, he will charm them. His reward? Acclaim, showered on him as he moves from table to table talking with diners.

President Reagan, shaken by the explosion of the space shuttle, postponed his State of the Union Message.

The Sports People column yesterday carried an incorrect date for the Vitalis/United States Olympic Invitational track meet at the Byrne Meadowlands Arena. It will be held on Saturday, Feb. 8.